Electronic systems today present any of a vast array of content to a user. The convenience of having content more readily accessible typically results in content being accessed more often and also results in viewers acquiring ever-increasing amounts of content. Accordingly, content servers have advantageously been utilized to make content more readily accessible to all kinds of users.
A content server typically stores content onto a mass storage device and presents the content stored thereon. Referring to FIG. 1, a flow diagram of steps of a method of storing content on a content server according to the conventional art is shown. As depicted in FIG. 1, the method of storing content begins with receiving content, at 110. For example, a user may insert a DVD containing a movie or a CD containing music in the CD/DVD drive of the content server. The content may be received in a protected format, such as content scrambling system (CSS) encryption or the like. If the received content is encoded in a protected format, the protection may be removed from the content, at 120. For example, a disk key contained on the DVD or CD may be used to decrypt the CSS encoded music or movie. The unprotected content is then stored on a mass storage device, such as a hard disk drive, at 130.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram of steps of a method of presenting the content stored on the content server according to the conventional art is shown. As depicted in FIG. 2, the method of presenting content begins with receiving a request for a particular item of content, at 210. At 220, the requested content is presented on an appropriate output device to the user.
Traditional systems for communicating and storing content often make copying of proprietary content relatively easy. For example, it is not uncommon for a user of the above-described content server to rent movies and/or music on DVDs and/or CDs and load them onto their system. The user may then return the DVDs or CDs, and yet continue to illegally watch the movies and/or listen to the music after the rental period has expired. Similarly, a user may borrow movies and/or music from others and load them onto their content server. The user may then return the DVD or CD to the person that they borrowed it from, and yet continue to illegally watch the movies and/or listen to the music thereafter. Accordingly, conventional content servers readily enable rent-and-rip, borrow-and-rip and the like.
However, creators and/or distributors of proprietary content (e.g., movies, music, etc.) have an economic interest in the content and desire to restrict the copying and/or distribution of the proprietary content to individuals that have purchased or rented the content in accordance with the nature of the user's ownership. Thus, content servers according to the conventional art are problematic in that the interests of the creators and/or distributors of proprietary content are not protected.
In addition, if the mass storage device should become damaged or stolen or otherwise inaccessible, the user may lose the content stored thereon. If the user does not have a copy of the content, then that content will need to be re-purchased in order for the user to access it once more.